The array of construction projects will put plumbers, roofers, electricians and builders to work across the state, though Irene-related recovery accounts for the lion's share of the work.

"It's still dominating our budget," said Rep. Alice Emmons, a Springfield Democrat and chair of the Institutions Committee responsible for drafting the capital bill.

The damaged Waterbury state office complex will consume about half of the total, including a big down payment on a new office building there, and on the replacement psychiatric hospital now going up in Berlin.

Beyond the usual parking lot paving and other routine maintenance at scores of state buildings, the bill funds big ticket items like the new state health laboratory going up in Colchester.

"These dollars go right into the pockets of Vermonters, right to construction workers and into our economy and many people don't see that," Emmons said.

The bill also supports smaller projects, including a $25,000 appropriation to help preserve historic underwater shipwrecks, and $50,000 for maintenance on the schooner, Lois McClure.

In Montpelier, an unusual project partially funded by the capital bill will mean a new biomass heating system that will service both state buildings and a big part of the downtown business district, a joint venture between the state and city.

The plant will burn renewable fuel, including wood.

Traffic through Montpelier is already slowed by contractors who are beginning to lay new pipes along State Street, a pockmarked artery that will be disrupted for months, and then re-surfaced.

City mayor John Hollar says the work will be finished in time for the upcoming winter heating season.

"It'll be an exciting project," Hollar said Friday. "We'll be one of few communities in the country that'll heat our downtown with biomass."